Chapter 3 — Claire Saw What Nathan Refused to See
Claire Whitmore moved into a small apartment across town.
It wasn't luxurious.
But it was peaceful.
She missed Ethan every second he stayed with Nathan.
Every Sunday they baked chocolate cookies together.
That routine never changed.
This Sunday, Ethan seemed distracted.
He kept flipping through his notebook.
Finally Claire asked softly,
"What are you thinking about?"
He hesitated.
"Dad's baby."
Claire smiled politely.
"What about it?"
"I don't think it's growing."
Claire stopped stirring the cookie batter.
"What do you mean?"
He explained the measurements.
The photographs.
The dates.
Claire listened carefully.
Then gently shook her head.
"Sweetheart... pregnancies look different on everyone."
"I know."
"But not exactly the same."
Claire couldn't answer.
Instead she hugged him.
Children imagined strange things.
Didn't they?
Still...
Later that night...
She secretly opened Vanessa's social media.
She scrolled through weeks of photographs.
Her heartbeat slowed.
Then quickened.
She enlarged every picture.
The angles differed.
The lighting differed.
The clothes differed.
The stomach...
Didn't.
May you like
For the first time...
Claire wondered whether Ethan had seen something everyone else had missed.
